


Ride

by herasux



Series: Swords & Reptiles [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Drake and Nami are family, M/M, Modern AU, Teen!X Drake, its late at night, like cousins, nami is mentioned, this may become a series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 00:05:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16074203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herasux/pseuds/herasux
Summary: It’s 1AM when Zoro gets off work, but he’s feeling ... something when he winds up giving Nami’s cousin a ride.





	Ride

“S—shit!”

When Zoro first exited the restaurant with a nice check in his pocket and a bag of hot leftover Chinese food under his arm, he nearly tripped over the tallish, lanky figure stretched out in the semi-darkness; the guy was laying there, propped up against the building and basically blocked the walkway that lead up to the main doorway which was why he had nearly tripped in the first place. A young guy like himself from what Zoro’s eye told him, and he appeared to be asleep.

Zoro was able to regain his balance, however, and frowned widely; reaching out with a sneaker clad foot, he gently pressed the top edge of his sneaker against the other’s right thigh in an attempt to nudge him awake.

”Hey,” he called out. What the hell was this guy doing outside asleep at this time of the morning? The lighting really wasn’t good over in this part of the street seeing as the streetlight was several steps away, but it worked—even if it was the one of the only ones.

The guy groaned and moved, suddenly looking a little more alive than before, so Zoro continued.

Nudge.

”Hey. It’s 1 AM. What the hell are you doing out here?”

Another groan bubbled up from the sitting male, and this time it sounded a bit pained. 

“... ... That hurts.”

“It’s 1 AM ... on a Saturday.”

Zoro retracted his foot, but he couldn’t fathom as to why a simple nudge would hurt ... unless he had a bruise on his thigh or something. Quietly, he watched as the other slowly stood up—for a brief moment, Zoro could make up what had to be a leather getup—but his right arm favored his left side.

The stranger slowly made his way towards the streetlight, still favoring his side and as soon as he stepped into the light—eventually leaning on the post—Zoro was able to see him much more clearly.

The first thing that stuck out was the fiery orange hair—bright orange and cut in a short, interesting sort style to say the most about it. The second thing Zoro noticed was the leather; the semi-darkness hadn’t been playing tricks on him.

Leather boots. Leather pants. Leather jacket. It all fit the guy like a second skin, and though he didn’t know the guy, the view from behind was actually pretty great; a sliver of pale skin peeked out between the top edge of the pants which wrapped around the waist and the edge of the jacket, giving Zoro a peek at the ginger’s lowerback.

There were letters on the back of the jacket—bold capital letters that were white against the black of the jacket, spelling out the word “REX” quite clearly.

He was sort of tall, too, but a bit shorter than Zoro himself.

Rearranging the bag on his arm, Zoro walked over to stand on the other side of the pole and glanced down at the ginger. It was then that he noted the scar—like an “X” kinda from his angle—and that’s when Nami’s voice piped up in his head.

_”My cousin has amazing fiery hair like mine, obviously, but he’s got a strange scar on his chin in the shape of an ‘X’. His eyes are really blue—I’m a little jealous of that. I think he likes ... dinosaurs ... snakes ... stuff like that.”_

Zoro had then proceeded to ask how a Witch like her could actually be related to ANYONE and received a nice smack to the head with a rolled up magazine.

Well—it couldn’t hurt to confirm.

”Hey. Are you ... are you Nami’s _cousin_?”

The ginger’s head snapped up in an instant revealing sharp blue eyes, a well formed jaw, and ... a busted lip.

”Nami—you ... you know her?”

 _Wow_. She hadn’t been kidding about his eyes; when they caught the streetlight, they _were_ really blue.

”W— _yes_. She mentioned you once. ... We’re roommates to cut down on costs.” Geez. He had almost said “wow” out loud.

One corner of the ginger’s mouth lifted up briefly before he turned back to stare out towards the road.

”... Drake. I’m Drake.”

”Zoro. So, what’re you gonna do then?”

It was a long moment before Drake shifted, grunted, and then finally spoke.

”I can’t go back home to my dad. It’s better if I don’t, honestly.”

If his bruised thigh, busted lip, and side were any sort of clues, it probably was better that he didn’t go back home to his Old Man.

Removing the bag from his arm, he held it out towards the ginger. 

“Here, take this. I’ll be right back.”

Drake blinked, but took the bag of Chinese food and was honestly a bit surprised by how heavy it was.

Zoro disappeared after that, but it wasn’t more than a few minutes before Drake heard the sound of a vehicle coming down the road from his right. The lights were easy to make out when the ginger turned his head to stare, and the closer the vehicle, the easier it was to make out that it was actually a motorcycle that pulled up to him. 

It was obvious that it was Zoro who was driving seeing as he’d only put on a helmet, and when he stopped on the bike, he lifted the visor and pointed at the Chinese food. 

“Put that in the detachable basket on the back,” Zoro said with a bit of a grin before removing his helmet. “Ever ridden a motorcycle, Drake?”

Doing what he was told, he put away the food before moving towards the seat were Zoro was sitting; there was room for him too, but he’d need to sit close. 

“Once—caught a ride somewhere on one before.”

”Good, get on then, and put this helmet on.”

Taking the helmet, Drake put it on before swinging a leg over the motorcycle and sat carefully. His hands reached out to grab at the sides of Zoro’s green jacket; it was soft, most likely made of cotton.

Zoro snorted and grabbed hold of Drake’s hands when he noticed where he’d put them.

”You gotta get closer, Drake. Lean on me.”

Tugging the ginger a bit, Drake seemed a bit hesitant to Zoro at first, but then he slowly leaned forward until he was resting snuggly against his back. He wrapped his arms around Zoro’s waist, ignoring the heat that crept up his neck.

Zoro chuckled, amused. It was nice giving someone a ride who wasn’t annoying (Sanji), a Witch, (Nami), or just plain insane (Luffy). The weight against his back felt good for once.

”I don’t bite, you know ... unless you want me to.”

”... Shut up.”

Drake’s ears burned, but he ignored it.

”Just make sure you hold on tight.”

Drake then flipped down the visor and held on a little tighter just before Zoro pulled away from the sidewalk without warning.

The ride was long (which was why he’d saved the money to buy a bike in the first place), but quiet and Zoro was enjoying the company even though Drake’s grip had become just a little loose. Maybe he was asleep again.

That brought a smirk to Zoro’s lips, but he made sure to speed up a bit more; if Drake’s grip were to loosen even more, he just might fall off or something.

When they reached their destination, the apartment complex Zoro and Nami lived in, Zoro sat up which startled Drake awake.

”Sorry, I—“

”I know, it’s alright. We’re here.“

Drake got off first and retrieved the food while Zoro moved to park before joining him; they walked together and entered the complex after a simple fingerprint scan. 

Zoro led the way up to the second floor, making sure he had his keys ready. 

Drake did glance around curiously for a few moments as the complex was a step up from his own home which could use some work and it was a bit warmer too—in the hallways at least.

Zoro eventually paused before a door (Room 26) and unlocked it, stepping inside. His hand found the light switch, and that’s when Drake stepped inside.

”You hungry Drake?”

The taller of the two asked this as he walked towards the kitchenette, and then turned the lights on in there.

”Starving.”

”I’ll find us some plates. There’s soda in the fridge. Grab us two? Nami’ll probably be here in the morning.”

”Sure.”

Setting the bag down on the coffee table, Drake moved to enter the kitchenette and opened the fridge. Peering in, he was surprised to see how much food was stored, but spied the soda in the very back. Leaning in, he was careful not to knock anything over.

Zoro glanced over at Drake as he pulled down the plates, and his gaze lingered. Oh—that’s right! The drinks had been in the back. Damn Witch must’ve did it to spite him. Though, a nice view honestly wasn’t the worst outcome, and he had to face facts: Drake was slick and sleek in that black leather and Zoro’s imagination said that it was _smooth as fuck_ , too. 

Grabbing the drinks carefully, Drake pulled them out with a little more effort than he did going in and spied the other looking his way out of the corner of his eye. Glancing over, he arched a brow, but his neck (and even his ears !) began to heat up when Zoro gave him an obvious once over with his good eye.

“You wear leather like a second skin all the time?”

Cheeks red now, Drake scowled a bit and refused to answer that; instead, he closed the fridge door and scurried back into the living room.

Amused now, Zoro closed the cabinet door and grabbed a pair of clean spoons before he sauntered into living room. Apparently, Drake could turn even redder than his cousin. Ah, he was already sipping at his soda, too. Maybe he’d teased him enough tonight—and if he hadn’t gotten a hint by now, Zoro would just try again tomorrow.

It was easy enough to divide the food, and Drake surprised him by thanking him before digging into his plate like he hadn’t eaten in a few days.

It wasn’t long before Zoro’s eye got him into trouble again.

”Stop watching me eat.”

Zoro shrugged, smiling a little and reached over Drake’s lap, deliberately brushing against one smooth, leather clad thigh to grab the jumbo carton of rice.

”Sorry.”

Drake huffed, cheeks a bit flushed before he pressing a spoonful of rice past his lips. “You don’t sound like it.”

Zoro scooted closer all of a sudden, plate in hand and pressed his right against Drake’s left one.

”Hey—“

”This thigh hurt or no?”

Drake swallowed.

”It—it’s fine.”

”Good. The couch is shit for sleeping on by the way.”

* * *

Drake would’ve been lying if he said he knew he would’ve wound up in a situation like this after leaving home for the last time. As he lay awake in Zoro’s bed, wrapped in his arms, he couldn’t help but notice how warm he was.

It was probably his muscle and height which was why he was so warm. The guy was pretty toned all over while Drake himself was on the leaner side. He’d been surprisingly gentle though despite forcing him to sleep in his bed tonight which had made Drake turn all sorts of red when that had first come out of Zoro’s mouth.

The second time he’d turned all red was when Zoro removed his shirt, and that was how he found out just how muscular the green haired man was. Thankfully, he’d only taken off his shirt and had simply joined him on the bed (after Drake had changed into some baggy night clothes that Zoro owned)—on the far end. How he had ended up hugging him so close, Drake simply chalked up to Zoro being a cuddler.

The ginger was startled out of his thoughts when a warm square palm sneaked under his shirt and roamed across his torso. A voice spoke near his head.

”You smell pretty good this close, and you never answered my question.”

The hand roamed higher, palming Drake’s chest briefly before settling over his heart; it was pounding.

”... ... I’m not doing anything tomorrow—off from work.”

”Scared?”

” _Nervous_.”

”... I’ll be honest then. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten any, and I like the look of leather. Are you seeing anyone then? If you don’t want to answer, I won’t press.”

”The leather’s apart of my coming out which is why I don’t have anywhere to stay now, and no one I know is interested.”

”I wouldn’t say that.”

In a bold move, Zoro hummed, and his hand darted downwards only to be joined by his other hand which began playing with the drawstring of Drake’s borrowed pants.

Drake shifted only to turn red, and Zoro inhaled sharply, swallowing.

”Z—zoro, are you—is that—“

”I know that was an accident, but damn if it didn’t rile me up. Isn’t my reaction natural?”

Drake swallowed, his face on fire at this point.

”I guess...”

”Hey—can we touch each other a little? I want to take you out tomorrow though. That’s a promise.”

”How much is ‘a little’?”

One of Drake’s hands shyly moved to rest ontop of one of Zoro’s own.

”Just enough to get each other off—nothing more than that for now.”

”Alright. _Keep your promise._ ”

”I promise, now turn around Drake. I’ll teach you how to kiss first.”

The ginger in question couldn’t get any redder than he already was, but as soon as Zoro removed his hands, he turned around and wrapped both arms around Zoro.

”Who said I didn’t know how to kiss?”

Zoro hummed as his lips met Drake’s gently before he spoke for the last time, a tingle running down his spine at the sensation of his lips pressed against the ginger’s own.

”Show me.”


End file.
